Governor may revisit plan to alter school funding

Many schools awaiting the governor's budget this month expect it will include an idea that fell flat last year -- giving more money to those with English learners and low-income students.

"Our understanding is that on Jan. 10 -- next week when the governor's budget comes out -- we fully expect him to bring back the weighted student formula," said Ron Bennett, of School Services of California, which advises districts about the state budget. "But the introduction of the weighted student formula last year was an absolute disaster."

Because of negative feedback from schools that feared the new formula would create winners and losers, the governor has sought advice from a committee that included a School Services representative, Bennett said.

"So, we expect to have a revised, kinder and gentler student formula come out again," Bennett said.

What that will look like is still under wraps.

But Gov. Jerry Brown got people buzzing about it Wednesday, when the Los Angeles Times published an interview in which he said he planned to reduce or even eliminate rules that guide billions of dollars schools receive each year. Bennett said the state currently allocates money according to "categorical" funding streams that have strings attached to them, for everything from class size reduction to adult education.

The new plan would likely cut out most of those to give more flexibility to schools. Opponents worried that the money would come from other schools with fewer poor students and English learners.

Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, D-Alamo, who heads up the Assemblyman Education Committee, has said she was concerned the new formula could hurt suburban schools.

But Bennett said Wednesday that the state could give schools $2-$2.5 billion more in 2013-14 than they received this year, under the Prop. 98 school funding guarantee. This would allow the governor to begin phasing in the new funding formula without hurting some schools, Bennett said.

Staff writer Steven Harmon and the Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.